


colours of emotion.

by Mystrothedefender



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7, F/M, rainbow-barry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 16:45:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17512277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystrothedefender/pseuds/Mystrothedefender
Summary: Barry's skin was blue, it had always been blue, hadn't it?features:-Sad.-It has never been said what colour Barrys skin is so him having rainbow skin is totally valid.-Blupjeans.-All Barrys are valid.-Barry: "Oh sh*t this thing has other colours."-no unnecessary deaths.





	colours of emotion.

Barry’s skin was blue, for as long as he could remember it had been blue. Faded flecks of black and grey and white smeared and danced over him occasionally. He’d noticed that when he was sleepy the grey patches got bigger… or maybe that was his imagination?

He wasn’t sure why he was blue, he couldn’t remember if he’d been born like this or if something had happened to him to make him this way. He’d learned to avoid questions by saying he was part dragonborn on his mother’s side, but he didn’t know if that were true, he didn’t think it was.

When he tried to remember he found his focus failed him, the pearl white patches of his skin would seem to fluctuate, and he usually ended up with a headache.

He tried to ignore it.

As a lich of course he remembered, he remembered traveling the planes, he remembered what had happened on Cycle 11.

 

“I know this stuff looks good but please refrain from eating it,” Davenport instructed the crew, “We all remember what happened when Magnus tried the mushrooms last Cycle.”

Magnus scoffed, blushing, “Let’s not act like I’m the first who’s done that.”

Davenport held up his hand, “I know, but hopefully you’ll be the last one. No more unnecessary deaths, please.”

Barry glanced between Magnus and Davenport, “It’ll only take about an hour to discern what’s poisonous and what’s not, I’ve improved our equipment to account for the uh, _new_ poisons.”

“And we have to do this each time?” Taako asked.

“Well, yeah,” Barry confirmed, “Last time all mushrooms were poisonous, this time it could be apples, who knows.”

“I hope it’s not apples,” Lup chimed, “I’ve had a craving for apple pie since we got off the ship.”

“What if everything’s poisonous?” Merle asked, frowning up at Barry from where he sat.

Barry shrugged, “That’s very unlikely,” he glanced back towards the ship, “But we have about 13 months of rations on the ship.”

Merle huffed, “That dry packet stuff? Ugh, I hate that shit...”

Lup nodded in agreement, “If I had to eat that for 13 months straight I’d kill myself on the spot.”

“No unnecessary deaths,” Davenport scolded. “Does anyone have any questions?”

Taako raised his hand, “Not a question, but I second killing ourselves if we have to eat rations.”

“Me too,” Lucrecia said jokingly, sheepishly lifting her hand.

“Noted, and denied,” Davenport stated, a stern smile on his face. He clasped his hands together, “You’re dismissed, we’ll meet back here in an hour to see what foods are safe to eat.”

Everyone left the make-shift seating area they’d made outside the ship, leaving Barry with a pile of scavenged food.

He inspected each one carefully as he took samples and tested them in his lab on the ship, the first thing he checked were the blueberries: one of his favourite foods and one he hadn’t had the opportunity to eat in a few years. He sat patiently and waited for the results, his mouth watering at the thought of eating them.

The machine let out a soft ‘ting’ noise, indicating that not only was it finished assessing but that the blueberries had passed all of Barry’s tests.

“Fuck yes,” he said loudly to himself, throwing his hands up in the air in triumph before picking up a handful of the blueberries and shovelling them into his mouth as if they were oats and he were a horse.

Unfortunately apples did make it onto the poisonous pile, Barry dreaded having to tell Lup. She got so fiery when she was mad.

So did some of the fowl, which Barry assumed ate the apples as one of their primary foods.

Most nuts and other meats seemed to pass fine, as did most of the other fruits.

Throughout his testing he kept nibbling through the pile of blueberries. He knew he was the only one who liked them so there was little point in holding back. He’d seen bushes and bushes of them outside, he’d be eating them all year, they were all his and no one could stop him.

He listed down and then incinerated the poisonous foods, and took what was safe to eat down and out of the ship, finding Lup already sitting there.

“Ok,” he said as he set the food down, “This is what you can eat.” He lifted his eyes to look at Lup, “I’m sorry to inform you that apples are poisonous here, but only the red ones, I know they’re the best ones but, uh, you can make do, right?”

Lup stared back at him, her face blank.

“Lup..?” Barry asked cautiously, part of him afraid that she was going to jump at him.

Lup’s eyes scoured Barry’s face, her mouth opening dumbly.

“What..?” Barry asked, feeling his cheeks flush.

Lup’s eyes widened and she gasped softly, “Oh my god?!”

Panic filled Barry quickly, “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Your face, Barry, what the fuck?! It’s changing colour?”

Barry frowned softly, a weak chuckle leaving him, “You’re fucking with me, right?”

Lup shook her head, she got to her feet and began shouting for Merle.

Barry felt his heart sink. Maybe the toxin detector hadn’t worked, maybe he was springing out in boils or rashes and hadn’t noticed.

Was that how he was going to die this Cycle? From eating blueberries?

Merle trotted to the camp, a look of horror falling onto his face as he saw Barry.

“Oh my god?” Merle said breathlessly.

Barry grit his teeth, “Can one of you tell me what’s happening?”

Lup looked down at Merle, “It was yellow a second ago, it was like he had jaundice.”

“Jaundice?” Barry repeated, “But I feel fine?”

Merle looked over Barry’s face for a moment, his eyes moved downwards, “It’s not just his face.”

Barry looked down, pulling off his shirt, he gasped and stilled as he saw tines of colour crawling across his skin, swirling and spreading slowly downwards, covering his stomach and making their way down his arms and legs. Yellow orange and red dancing in his skin.

“What the fuck is this?” he asked in disbelief.

“Did you eat something?” Merle asked.

“Blueberries,” Barry informed him, his heart thumping in his chest.

“You don’t feel any pain?”

Barry shook his head, “I feel… fine.”

Merle nodded, “I’ll try healing you,” he said with a soft nod, he outstretched his hand to heal him.

But nothing happened.

“Well,” Merle stuttered, “You’re… You’re not dying.”

Barry looked down at the dancing colours on his torso, almost mesmerised by them.

As his panic subsided the colours began to move slower, and new colours appeared. Green spots formed and swelled like ink blots, strings of purple and turquoise began to cross his chest too.

“Perhaps we should get Capn’port,” he suggested.

“I’ll go,” Lup volunteered, glancing at Barry before she left, “He’s going to be so mad at you.”

Merle nodded, watching as Lup ran off, his eyes moved back to Barry, watching blue spirals move across his forehead, “You sit down, let us know if anything starts feeling weird.”

Barry nodded, “I will… I feel fine though.”

Merle had him do a few medical tests; follow this with your eyes, let me test your reflexes, walk in a straight line.

Barry passed each one.

After a few minutes Lup returned, Davenport in tow.

She let out a breath as they reached them, “At least he’s still conscious.”

Davenport frowned, looking Barry up and down. “I can’t believe this,” he said, shaking his head.

“He seems fine,” Merle said with a shrug, “Other than the skin thing.”

“Nothing showed up as poisonous,” Barry said to defend himself.

“Maybe it’s a flamingo thing?” Merle suggested, “You know how flamingos eat shrimp and it turns their feathers pink?”

Davenport nodded, “Maybe. We’ll keep an eye out for anything else like that. Until then no one’s to eat any berries, just in case. And Merle I want you to stick with Barry for the next few days and keep an eye on him.”

 

By the next day the colours had completely covered every inch of Barry’s skin, it didn’t take him or the rest of the crew long to notice that they changed with his emotions. The default seemed to be a mix of purple and pale orange with splashes of green that moved across him.

It didn’t fade over time.

By the end of the year everyone had become quite used to it, fond of it even, inside jokes had developed, and Barry had gotten used to not having to verbally express how he was feeling; everyone could see it on his skin.

He would miss it.

 

“Say goodbye to rainbow-berry,” Taako said as they got on to the ship, undercutting the serious tone set by the darkening sky and land around them.

“Goodbye, rainbow-berry,” Magnus said sadly, giving Barry a hard pat on the back, “I’m gunna miss your smooshy face.”

“My face will still be here,” Barry assured Magnus as he and everyone else sat in their respective chairs, buckling their seatbelts, “It just won’t be as colourful.”

“That’s the best thing about it though!” Magnus huffed.

“Now that’s just not true,” Lup smiled, looking over at Barry, “We love you for more than just your rainbow face.”

Barry nodded, knowing that a soft pink cloud would have just spread over his cheeks, “Thankyou, Lup, it’s nice to know that someone appreciates me.”

As they took off Barry closed his eyes, he usually did when they passed through planes, or else he felt sick. This time though it was partly because he didn’t want to see his skin change back to normal.

It had been nice to feel… special. It had made him feel special.

“Holy shit, Barry.” He heard Merle say.

“What?” he said. Slowly he opened his eyes, his gut clenching as he looked down at his arm.

“Holy shit,” he said quietly.

His skin had turned pitch black.

Small white and grey and gold swirls moved slowly over it.

He admired it for a moment, lifting his hand to look closer.

He looked like space itself.

He looked up, slowly looking from person to person, starting with Merle.

“Holy shit indeed, that’s fucking beautiful,” Lup said, her mouth agape as she watched the gold and white galaxy-like shapes grow in size.

“Yeah,” Magnus gasped, “Lup, I don’t think you’re the most beautiful person on this ship anymore!”

“What?!” Lup, Taako, and Barry said simultaneously, before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“What?” Davenport shouted from the head of the ship, “What happened to rainbow-berry?”

“He’s like, a space-berry or something now!” Taako yelled back.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Lucrecia said, aghast. “I’ve got to paint this. I’ve got to learn to paint _specifically_ to paint this.”

Barry smiled, “I’ll be happy to model for you.” He looked down at his skin and let out a soft huff, the colours in his skin pulsating in confusion as he frowned, “Why haven’t I gone back to normal?” he looked over at Magnus and then at Merle, “You’ve got your cuts and bruises, why’s my skin not skin coloured?”

Merle shrugged, “Who the fuck knows.”

“We can run some tests when we land, once we’re settled,” Taako smiled.

Magnus chuckled softly, “I wished extra hard that you’d stay multicoloured, I bet that’s what did it.”

Barry scoffed, “Yeah, sure. Well, thankyou, Magnus.”

“You’re welcome, rainbow-Barry,” Magnus replied, smiling widely.

 

So Barry stayed multicoloured. They couldn’t find a cause, and even if they’d been able to they wouldn’t have been able to reverse it, and even if they had been able to reverse it Barry wouldn’t have wanted to.

Over the next year gold was a consistent occupier of his face; the colour of triumph.

Over the following years gold faded, then returned, then faded again. Slowly as the years progressed and pessimism set in to the crew a deep orange replaced the gold, the fear that they’d never break this loop weighing on him.

Once he and Lup got together his colours changed again, quickly to red and an almost florescent pink.

 

Barry sat at the communal table on the starblaster, his robe pulled tight around him, his hood pulled over his head in an attempt to cover his face.

“Well hello, pink-Barry,” Lucrecia smiled as she walked in, taking some fresh baked bread and spreading some butter on it. “You look happy.”

“Damn is it that obvious?” said Barry, pulling his hood down further, unable to stop himself smiling.

Lucrecia nodded, “That’s the problem with having rainbow skin. You wear your emotions on your,” she chuckled, “Well, on your skin.”

Barry shook his head, lifting his eyes to meet Lucrecia’s, “I’m just so happy Lucrecia,” he said, the colours on his skin whirling in an almost playful manor, “She’s just so…” red spirals pulsed and faded on his cheeks and neck, “I don’t have the words to explain the way she makes me feel.”

“You don’t have to,” Lucrecia smiled, patting the back of Barry’s hand, where patches of green were blooming, “We can see how she makes you feel.”

“I don’t know why I found it so hard to tell her…” Barry said, shaking his head again, letting out a soft sigh.

Lucrecia shrugged, “Making yourself vulnerable is difficult, Barry, don’t worry about what you could have done, think about what you’re going to do in the future.”

More red and green pools formed on Barry’s skin, and he nodded. “You’re right.”

He jolted slightly as Lup walked into the room, “Lup, uh, babe,” he said cautiously, “You sleep well?”

Lup nodded, a beaming smile on her face, she walked to Barry and gave him a kiss, seemingly ignoring Lucrecia, “You know I did, pink-Barry.” She pulled back to admire his face, “Put your hood down, you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about, you’re happy, you’re allowed to be happy, Barry.”

Finally she turned to acknowledge Lucrecia, “You agree with me, don’t you?”

Lucrecia nodded, “I do, I think it’ll be good for moral.”

Barry sheepishly pulled off his hood, a touch of yellow embarrassment tinging him, “Ok, ok.” He let out a slow breath, the yellow fading again, he looked at Lup and took her hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing her knuckles softly. “I love you, and I’ve never been happier.”

 

For the next 50 years his skin barely changed from bright pink and red, other colours made an appearance, but his love for Lup broke through them all eventually, even earning him the nickname ‘loverboy’, much to his annoyance.

It wasn’t until Lup disappeared that his skin changed that drastically again.

It turned blue.

 

Barry pulled his hood up, his cloak wrapped tight around him to cover as much skin as he could.

“Barry!” Taako shouted from the brush, a few feet away.

“Taako?” Barry shouted back, running over to him.

Taako smiled softly, “There’re footprints leading this way. Maybe that Orc lady wasn’t trying to scam us after all.”

Small wisps of green flecked on Barry’s otherwise blue face.

Taako’s small smile dropped at the sight, “Don’t get your hopes up,” he said weakly.

“I’m not,” Barry insisted, his stomach knotting. His eyes fell to the floor as he walked up to the footprints, placing his foot next to them for comparison.

He hummed softly, “Whoever made these was lighter than Lup, and a lot shorter.” He shook his head, “I think it must have been someone else.”

“Shall we look anyway?” Taako asked.

Barry sighed and nodded, “Yeah, leave no stone unturned, right?” he said solemnly. The phrase used to be used looking for the light of creation, now it was looking for Lup.

He couldn’t see an end in sight.

This mission was never going to end.

He’d never get her back.

He let out a shaky breath as he walked along side the footprints.

He hoped it would be Lup, but he knew it wouldn’t be.

After over 50 years of being with someone you memorise everything about them. Barry knew everything about Lup, her gait was different to whoever they were tracking, she didn’t walk like this, her feet pointed inwards slightly when she took a step, she put more weight on the ball of her foot than her heel.

This wasn’t her.

He squeezed his eyes closed, pretending for a moment that it was, and that they were walking together again through the hills of a new world, admiring the sights. He outstretched his hand to hold hers.

His eyes bolted open as his fingers closed around nothing.

“Oh god… Lup,” he choked out. He sat down, his knees to his chest, tears slowly dripping down his face.

Taako looked down at him awkwardly. “Hey,” he said quietly. “If it’s not her it’s not her. There’s no point in pursuing a…” he sighed. “Do you want to go to the ship? I’ll keep looking and interrogate whoever this actually is.”

Barry let out a deep breath. “Ok,” he said quietly, “I’ll uh, I’ll try to pinpoint where we should go next. I’ll see you there in a bit.”

 

For the next 12 years he stayed blue. People stopped referring to him by his colour, because it never changed, no matter how happy or angry he thought he felt, he stayed blue.

He couldn’t remember being any other colour.

He’d always been blue, hadn’t he?

 

No, that wasn’t true.

Barry swallowed the voidfish ichor, his face contorted with disgust, and he remembered.

He hadn’t always been blue.

He remembered the berries, he remembered being covered in rainbows and galaxies of colour, and Lup, he remembered Lup.

He hadn’t always been blue, but he was still blue. Lup was still missing.

He was blue with despair.

But that despair didn’t last for long.

At the sight of her he felt his skin glow, exploding into colour, more colours than he’d ever seen, but he wasn’t looking at himself, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.


End file.
